Cameroon in Crisis: The Ambazonia War

Cameroonian Cabinet & Ambazonia Governing Council

Background 2

Pre-Colonization 2

European Colonization 3

An independent State 3

Demographics 5

The Anglophone Crisis 5

Rising Conflict 5

Government Reaction 7

A call for independence 7

Repercussions on education 9

A Call to action 10

1

Background

Pre-Colonization

Often referred to as a “true African crossroads” Cameroon is a microcosm of the great

variety of ethnic groups with different customs and spoken languages of Africa. Prior to

colonization Cameroon was inhabited by a large variety of peoples of varying histories who

spoke a variety of languages. Most of the territory was organised into small, decentralised

villages, and the central location of Cameroon meant that the area experienced a continuous flow

of migration.

One of the earliest Kingdoms in Cameroon was founded by the Sao people around 500

CE and was located on Lake Chad. Throughout the next 800 years several kingdoms were

formed such as the Kingdoms of Bamum, Bamileke, Nso', and Bafut that were located in the

north-western parts of Cameroon. By the end of the 1400s, a more centralised state emerged in

the northern part of Cameroon, known as the Mandara Kingdom and sometimes as the Wandala.

The Kingdom entered into conflict with the Dulo (or Duolo) tribe in the late 16th century and

established their capital in Dulo following the successful conquest. Throughout the decades that

followed, the Dulo people attempted to regain power in the Mandara Kingdom and enlisted the

Bornu Kingdom to help them. After increased conflict the Bornu Kingdom made one of their

allies, Aldawa Nanda, King over the Mandara Kingdom in 1614. However, after defeating the

Bornu Kingdom in a war in around 1781, the Mandara Kingdom received tributes from a large

number of neighbouring villages and became a regional power. The Mandara Kingdom would

begin its decline when a group of Fulani people invaded the area in a Jihad. The Kingdom

2

continued to exist for another 100 years, but was weakened by Fulani raiders and wars with the

neighbouring Bornu Kingdom. There was therefore a large Fulani influence in the Mandara

Kingdom long before the final Fulani conquest in 1893.

European Colonization

During the 15th century the Portuguese established sugar plantations and gained control

of the slave trade in Cameroon throughout the following century. Germany claimed Cameroon as

a German Protectorate in 1884. It remained until 1916, when Britain, France, and Belgium took

it by military force.

After World War I, the country was divided into two zones. The western zone

(comprising two separate areas, later known as the Northern and Southern Cameroons) was

administered by Britain under a League of Nations mandate. The rest of the country (comprising

four-fifths of the total) was administered by France, directly from Paris. France gained the larger

geographical region by transferring outlying regions to neighboring French colonies. In the

British area, there was a local participation in government, and both Northern and Southern

Cameroons were joined to parts of Nigeria for administrative purposes. After 1945, the UK and

France continued to administer the country as UN Trust Territories.

An Independent State

In 1955, the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC), based amongst the Bamileke and

Bassa ethnic groups, began an armed struggle for independence in French Cameroon. On

3

January 1, 1960, independence was granted to the Republic of Cameroon. Ahmadou Ahidjo was

later elected the first president of the Republic of Cameroon. Ahidjo and his party, the Cameroon

Union (Union Camerounaise),

pledged to build a capitalist

economy and to maintain close ties

to France. The following year the

largely Muslim northern two-thirds

of British Cameroon voted to join

Nigeria. The largely Christian

southern third voted to join with the

Republic of Cameroon to form the

Federal Republic of Cameroon.

The formerly French and British regions each maintained substantial autonomy. In

British Cameroons the major question was whether to remain with Nigeria or to unite with the

newly independent Republic of Cameroon. In a UN-supervised plebiscite in February 1961, the

south decided to unite with the former French Cameroun, creating the Federal Republic of

Cameroon while the north voted to join the Federation of Nigeria. This new union of the Federal

Republic of Cameroon pledged that the autonomy of the English-speaking minority would be

protected. However, in 1972, a referendum transformed the federation into a unitary state, ending

the autonomy of the Anglophone regions and leading to the subsequent systemic discrimination

and marginalisation under successive governments dominated by Francophones.

4

Demographics

According to a 2005 census, approximately 80% of Cameroon’s population is composed

of francophone citizens, with the other ~20% of the population being anglophone. The roughly 3

million anglophone residents of the Northwest and Southwest regions use their own legal and

educational systems, inherited from the British, and have a unique cultural identity. Such unique

cultural identity is now being subject to systematic neglect and repression by Cameroon’s central

government.

The Anglophone Crisis

Rising Conflict

In 2016 anglophone teachers, lawyers, and citizens of Cameroon began to peacefully

protest a range of everyday grievances. They were frustrated with the inflexible school

curriculum that privileged Cameroon’s French-speaking majority and kept English speakers at a

disadvantage, and they were tired of a legal system that made justice harder to get for English

speakers because it was dominated by Francophones. In late 2017, President Paul Biya’s

government responded to nonviolent protests with force with Cameroonian security forces firing

live ammunition from low-flying helicopters into crowds and physically abused demonstrators

on the ground. The government in Yaounde made it clear it had no intention of entertaining

Anglophone demands. Three years later, Cameroonians in the Northwest and Southwest regions

5

of the nation are caught between a government in Yaounde that has shown little regard for their

grievances and armed groups that are vying to lead the country’s secessionist movement.

The violence spurred by this linguistic split has brought Cameroon to civil war with at

least 1,850 deaths since September 2017, close to 500,000 displacements, and activists who have

been rounded up and jailed. The war has now spread to the Francophone West and Littoral

regions.

Most schools have been closed for the last two years, more than 170 villages have been

destroyed, approximately 30,000 citizens have become internally displaced, and 35,000

cameroonians have sought refuge

in neighbouring Nigeria. The

conflict has also devastated the

local economy accounting for

approximately one fifth of the

country’s GDP. The government

claims armed English-speaking

separatists who want to create a

new nation, Ambazonia, have terrorized civilians and attacked government forces, prompting the

military to retaliate against them. However, English speakers displaced by military raids on their

villages recount how Cameroonian troops opened fire on unarmed civilians and burned down

their homes. Soldiers often arrived to Anglophone villages but instead of looking for armed

independence fighters, they fired indiscriminately.

6

Government Reaction

By late 2017 and throughout 2018, the government deployed military and police

reinforcements, an elite army unit (Rapid Intervention Battalion, BIR), and newly created special

forces. It also increased its firepower, deploying armoured vehicles and helicopters recently

bought from the United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, and Israel. These reinforcements helped the

security forces inflict significant losses on the separatists, who have suffered heavy casualties

and lost several of their field commanders. Witnesses and victims say the government’s use of

force has driven a growing number of moderate Cameroonians to throw their support behind the

armed separatists, a shift that threatens to intensify the government crackdown and deepen

divisions between French and English speakers in the once-peaceful nation.

A Call for Independence

The separatists continue to fight for independence through seven armed militias present

on the ground with a total of between 2,000 and 4,000 combatants. They recruit mainly from the

Anglophone community but also among the security forces and include dozens of Nigerian

mercenaries. Dozens of Cameroonian police officers and soldiers, and retired or discharged

soldiers have also joined the militias. Most militias have female combatants, some of whom are

local leaders. In addition to the armed separatist groups, some pro-government self-defence

militias, especially in Bakweri and Mbororo communities, and an unknown number of small

criminal groups and semi-criminal/semi-separatist groups are active, including in the West

region.

7

In 2018, the militias gradually took control of some rural and urban areas. They retain a

position of strength in most of these areas maintaining roadblocks and security checkpoints.

They are equipped mostly with locally made traditional firearms but also carry modern firearms,

a few machine guns, and RPGs. Many of these weapons were seized from the security forces,

while others were acquired in Nigeria from paramilitary or criminal groups in the Delta.

Initially, these militias were funded by the diaspora but the militias have become more

autonomous. Last year, they carried out many more kidnappings for ransom, extorted

shopkeepers and certain sectors of the population and imposed “taxes” on companies. This

relative financial independence allows them to become autonomous from political organisations

in the diaspora. As the population becomes less cooperative, they have greater recourse to

violence to ensure obedience. As they begin ignoring orders to respect the rights of civilians,

they commit abuses and are gradually alienating the residents.

Since mid-2018, the conflict in Anglophone regions has spread to Cameroon’s

Francophone regions. About twenty attacks, including arson, have taken place in Francophone

West and Littoral regions, killing about fifteen people and causing considerable material damage.

International Response

As conflict escalates the international community has increased its involvement. “We

strongly condemn the human rights violations and abuses that have plagued the people in the

north-west and south-west regions of Cameroon,” said Ravina Shamdasani, OHCHR

spokesperson. “We call on armed secessionists groups to refrain from the use of violence. We

urge the Government to respect and protect the rights of all,” she added. “In addition to the

8

high-profile abduction and subsequent release of 78 students and three staff at a secondary

school in Bamenda, in the north-west earlier this month, we regularly receive reports of

abductions, reportedly carried out by the armed secessionist groups,” the OHCHR official said.

But a shortage of financial support is the greatest obstacle to delivering humanitarian aid to this

region, a $15 million appeal launched in May to help 160,000 people has raised only one-third of

what is required. The overall 2018 Humanitarian Response Plan for Cameroon which amounts to

$320 million is less than 37% funded. Cmdr. Candice Tresch, a spokeswoman for the Defense

Department, said that the United States had received assurances from the Cameroonian

government that U.S. assistance would not be diverted from its intended purpose including

fighting Islamist extremists in the north. She later added that “We will consider suspending or

reprogramming additional assistance when and as necessary.”

Repercussions on Education

Since 2017, the separatists have demanded the closure of schools and threatened or

burned down establishments that have remained open. Attendance has since fallen drastically

and many students have dropped out. The majority of children in the Anglophone regions have

not been to school for two or three years with unwanted pregnancies increasing among young

women and many families are now pressuring their children into working. Even if the conflict

were to end now, it would be difficult for these children to continue their education.

Continuing conflict risks causing an even more serious problem: a whole generation of

children brought up to hate Cameroon. At some IDP reception sites, children are re-educated

about the history of Ambazonia. Amongst the refugees in Nigeria, there is strong support for the

separatists and the armed militias. Their defiance of Cameroon’s government is such that they

9

refuse gifts or visits from the authorities. They often teach their children the anthem and history

of Ambazonia.

A Call to action

Taking into account the increasing conflict within the nation of Cameroon and all of its

repercussions. The Cameroonian Cabinet and the Ambazonia Governing Council have been

called upon in order to initiate dialogue and begin the process to resolve such conflict. The

objectives of the aforementioned discussion should primarily address the repression and

discrimination of Anglophone citizens, violence and military action, the independence of

Ambazonia, and the humanitarian and economic crisis that has been created due to conflict as

well as all other topics related to this conflict. As a committee delegates are tasked with

resolving the ongoing conflict and furthermore reforming Cameroon after such violence on its

lands.

Guiding Questions

1. How has governmental repression and discrimination affected Anglophone citizens?

2. Should Ambazonia become its own sovereign nation?

a. If so, what will be the relationship between Ambazonia and Cameroon?

3. Should rebels and perpetrators of violence be punished?

a. If so, what is the appropriate punishment?

4. Should the government of Cameroon begin to embrace anglophone culture?

10

a. If so, what are some programs that can integrate anglophone culture into society?

b. How will francophone communities react to this reformation?

Committee Rules & Regulations

1. Status and/or position of each cabinet member will not affect scoring. The dias is

assessing the demonstration of knowledge on your individual's policy.

a. You will also be scored on advancing the room and providing relevant statistics

and information.

2. Instead of “Chair”, the head of the committee will be acting as President of Cameroon

(Paul Biya).

3. We expect knowledge on core issues demonstrated within the guide and research

a. Prior to the start of the debate the dias will answer any questions you may have

pertaining to the guide and/ or debate.

4. Topics being discussed are to be taken with utmost maturity. The dias will not tolerate

any delegate making inappropriate or disrespectful comments on these subjects even if

delegates are on policy.

5. Regular parliamentary procedure will apply if not mentioned above.

6. For any inquiries please contact me at: naomicsimanjuntak@gmail.com

11